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EXPLORING FACULTY BELIEFS ABOUT REMEDIAL MATHEMATICS STUDENTS: A COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY APPROACH
by
Leticia Tomas Bustillos
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(EDUCATION)
May 2007
Copyright 2007 Leticia Tomas Bustillos

The learning and understanding of mathematics is widely acknowledged to be a critical component for economic and civic life (Oakes, 1990a). Yet, 35 percent of students, many of whom are African American and Latino, enroll and do not attain success in remedial mathematics courses at the community colleges (NCES, 2004). While many reforms aim to remediate presumed or identified deficiencies among students, rarely is the critical role faculty members' play examined within the complex web of underachievement among minority students enrolled in remedial mathematics courses.; The Math Project is a unique, collaborative effort between community college faculty members and higher education researchers from the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the University of Southern California begun in May 2004. The project brought together community college mathematics faculty members and university researchers in a professional community of collaborative inquiry that was based on a shared goal of improving educational outcomes for African American and Latino students enrolled in remedial mathematics courses. The goal of the project was to engage faculty members in reflective dialogue to aid them in developing a more conscious awareness of how their individually held beliefs influence and impact the educational outcomes of this specific population of students. Most importantly, CUE researchers sought to influence change within the belief systems of faculty members and the manner in which they understand student underachievement.; Qualitative methods were used to understand the impact of the Math Project in influencing the beliefs of community college math faculty members. The design of the study included participant observation, analysis of institutional data, individual interviews and a focus group with faculty members, and transcript data from the projects meetings over a nearly two-year interval. Results of this study reveal the myriad forces that shape beliefs, including historical, departmental, institutional, and societal contexts and the inherent difficulty in changing those beliefs without direct intervention. The findings from this study reveal additional elements rarely explored in our understanding of beliefs, mathematics instruction, and the educational outcomes of students enrolled in remedial mathematics courses.

EXPLORING FACULTY BELIEFS ABOUT REMEDIAL MATHEMATICS STUDENTS: A COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY APPROACH
by
Leticia Tomas Bustillos
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(EDUCATION)
May 2007
Copyright 2007 Leticia Tomas Bustillos